As promised, here's the top 20 recap, in as few words as necessary about each entry.
20. Kathleen Edwards :: Back To Me
Kathleen Edwards is the most unassuming, most unpretentious pure musician and music fan on this list. She stands for the simple power of a great song, and for not being afraid to play it loud. If she had lived down the hall from me in college, I would probably have wasted an awful lot of time.
19. Devin Davis :: Lonely People of the World, Unite!
Devin Davis is the best argument going for PC home digital recording of traditional rock: he's made a warm album referring to pretty much all of classic rock history, all by himself, using technology that his forebears would have shunned.
18. Sigur Rós :: Takk
We'll never hear a record as jaw-dropping as Agaetis Byrjun from Sigur Rós, but as a consolidation of that sound, this will do just fine for now.
17. The Frames :: Burn The Maps
A late entry, written about in yesterday's post.
16. Deerhoof :: The Runners Four
Deerhoof is slowly becoming the most admired art-rock band in the US, this decade's minor Sonic Youth, in a way. This was their most approachable album so far (and it took Sonic Youth 4 or 5 platters to get near the sub-mainstream).
15. System of a Down :: Hypnotize
You may be wondering what I thought of the second half of SOAD's 2005 opus, Mezmerize. It was fine, but not as inventive, somewhat repetitive, and really quite unnecessary after Hypnotize. I've resisted the temptation to judge the two albums as a whole (and drop them out of the top 20), because this single disc was a great listen while it stood on its own.
14. Missy Elliott :: The Cookbook
The end of year polls I've seen haven't been kind to this disc - she hasn't been on any major magazine top 10 lists - but I still believe this is Missy's best total accomplishment if not her most groundbreaking work. With several great singles and more consistently enjoyable album tracks, I've continued to spin this all the way through quite a bit.
13. Konono No. 1 :: Congotronics
By the end of the year, this album had become the consensus world music album of the year. The cynics will backlash it for appealing to people who don't normally listen to or know much about African music, but isn't that the point of a great album? It's not like it's westernized in any way. It's simply the most unusual disc that that has captured enough ears to matter this year.
12. Fiery Furnaces :: EP
I have no idea why this disc hasn't turned up in more year-end lists; perhaps it's because most of it was previously released (though not on CD). It is the place to start for the FFs novitiate. The radio drama Rehearsing My Choir cements the Furnaces' place in my tally.
11. Edan :: Beauty and the Beat
This is probably the second-most purely creative piece of music in the top 20. It recalls the astonishment of the first mega-sampled rap collage records . . . Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, etc. A relatively short record that makes up in width what it might lack in length.
10. Sufjan Stevens :: Illinoise
The second in the 50 states series appears to be the overall winner among critics' lists and polls. It's a wonderful record, but I often find that the critical consensus comes one album too late for great artists; Illinois' only flaw to my ears was its close similarity to Greetings from Michigan . Still, if you heard this one first, I can understand you rating it higher. Then go to Michigan, and also don't miss the contemplative detour of Seven Swans.
9. MIA :: Arular
I wondered if Arular would have staying power; turns out it does. It gets a lot of play around my house , and I haven't grown sick of it at all, really. In many ways, it's a perfect pop record, and a great combination of unusual and thoroughly listenable.
8. Bill Fay :: Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
These days, it's rare that I discover an old artist good enough for my Hall Of Fame; this year, Bill Fay received his plaque. Last year's set of demos gave way to this year's reissues of the two original studio albums, but it was the long-belated release of this oddly compelling set of wilder late recordings that sealed the deal (and gave him a place in the top 20, which only allows new releases). Stumbling, knotty, imperfect, and breathtaking.
7. Broken Social Scene :: Broken Social Scene
If I feel like the critics glommed on to Sufjan Stevens an album or two late, I feel like they might have overrated the breakthrough BSS album, You Forgot It In People, and subsequently underrated this gem. It reminds me of learning about indie rock for the first time.
6. Bright Eyes :: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
I don't have the energy to discuss Conor Oberst. This is a complete set of very, very good songs, with at least one modern classic ("Lua").
Surprise, though: I demoted this one place to give LCD Soundsystem the final place in the top 5. By the end of the year, I felt more like LCD would play well 10 years from now.
5. LCD Soundsystem :: LCD Soundsystem
A parade of incredible singles with the aggro-punk of "Movement"; references to Bowie, Prince, Mark E. Smith, and of course Daft Punk. 100% fun with just the right amount of brains.
4. The Hold Steady :: Separation Sunday
Also 100% fun with just the right amount of brains. It is always amazing when an artist pulls off a concept album without having to waste a song or two to keep the story intact.
3. Okkervil River :: Black Sheep Boy
Yes, I like concept albums. Will Sheff's incredible command of imagery and metaphor means that almost no lyric on this record is literal, but all of it congeals, under a grand sense of melody and song structure.
2. Doves :: Some Cities
The Doves own an even grander sense of melody and song structure; while Okkervil River produced perhaps the more complete work of art this year, I'm a sucker for the big cinematic rock production record. This is it.
1. Bloc Party :: Silent Alarm
It's always tough to cut through the hype, and Bloc Party were naturally compared quite a bit to '04 hype victims Franz Ferdinand as the year progressed. That comparison may work ethnomusicologically, but it is of zero value artistically. I'm not going to argue the absolute merits of each band - it's clear which I prefer, and it's my preference only - but I think the distinctions between the bands are almost a set of opposites: eager vs. coy, soaring vs. stalking, political vs. personal, bombastic vs. circumspect.
The secret to Bloc Party is simple to me: it's how the guitars open up from chunk to chime. And 15 great songs. Hopefully they will make a second album great enough to put the hype to rest; for now, it's on to the Arctic Monkeys in 2006.
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